What's a Date?
by Ulysses Quanta
Summary: Lafter's playing matchmaker, and she manages to convince Mikazuki to go on a date with Atra. Unfortunately, he has no idea what a date is. How will things go between Mikazuki and Atra?
1. Version 1, Written 08-09-18

_Note: This is a reupload from my old account. Reviews originally posted on there will be posted on the story._

...

"Alright, that'll do it, Mika! Come on out!" Nadi called out as he turned off the diagnostic program of the Barbatos. The cockpit of the Gundam opened up as the pilot's seat brought Mikazuki Augus out of it as the boy put his arm back in a sling before disconnecting himself from the Alaya-Vijnana system, letting out a small grunt as the familar flow of information was cut off and the sight in his eye vanished.

"Is that everything, old man?" Mika called back

"Yeah, that's all, Mika. Go get yourself some food!" Nadi told the boy. Mika nodded, and launched himself off the Barbatos towards the elevated walkway.

"Hey Mika!" Azee called to the boy. "You, me, Akihiro and Lafter are doing training in the simulators at 1200 hours tomorrow!" she explained as he grabbed the railing in front of him and landed on his feet.

"Got it, Azee," Mika said as he dusted himself off.

"Also, Lafter wanted to talk you about something. She's in the mess hall," she told him. Mika nodded, and started walking through the corridors towards the mess hall.

It didn't take him long to find the mess hall. Walking through the doorway, he quickly spotted Lafter and walked over to sit with the honey blonde.

"Hey Mika, I got you some food. Did Azee tell you about the training tomorrow?" Lafter asked.

"Yeah. Tomorrow at 1200 hours. She also said you wanted to talk to me about something," he said, taking a bite out of some of the food on the plate. It tasted nice. _Then again, all of Atra's cooking tastes nice._ Mika thought.

"Yeah, I did." Lafter stole a quick glance around the mess hall, before lowering her head and whispering to Mika. "Have you talked to Atra lately?"

"Not really. I've been training a lot, so I haven't had chance to talk to her. Why?" he asked.

"I'm just wondering." A mischevious smile formed on Lafter's face. "Have you considered asking her on a date?"

Mika looked at Lafter in confusion. "What's a date?" he asked. Lafter sweatdropped and shushed him.

"Be quiet, do you want people to hear us?" she hissed at him, causing Mika to look at her with even more confusion. "A date is where two people who like each other go out to eat food and to visit places together and spend time together," Lafter explained.

"Ohh." The confusion on Mika's face cleared up. "So should I ask her now? What should I ask her?"

"Not now! You'll embarrass her in front of everyone!" she whispered to him. "Ask her if she wants to go on a date with you the next time you two get time alone. Make sure you say it like it's your idea," she told him. Mika nodded, and went back to eating his food.

Lafter sighed. _Boys are idiots,_ she thought.

...

The monitor showed a calling icon, before the screen changed to show her familiar blonde haired, violet eyed friend.

"Hey Atra," Kudelia greeted the brunette. "Is something wrong?

"Oh, no, nothing's wrong... Just wanted to say hi and see how you were," Atra said, a small smile forming on her face.

"I'm doing alright. I got back from a meeting with some shareholders. They wanted to discuss how some of the students at the school are struggling with some of the subjects we'd been giving them, so we're looking at changing the curriculum to help them with the subjects they've been struggling with so they can catch up with the other students, but other than that, it's been going well," Kudelia explained. "How are you?"

"I'm... okay. We're heading to Seisei for a while. Orga and Mr Naze were called back by Mr McMurdo for some reason, so we're going to be there for a while," Atra explained.

"Ah... What about Mika?" Kudelia asked.

"He's okay," Atra answered a bit too quickly.

"Atra?"

Atra sighed. "I haven't really seen much of Mika lately. He's either been working on Barbatos or training in the simulator."

The sound of a door sliding open drew their attention behind Atra. "Hey Atra, we'll be arriving at Seisei soon," Mikazuki explained as he stood in the doorway.

"Hey Mika," Kudelia greeted him.

"Kudelia." Mika walked through the doorway to stand near Atra. "You okay?"

"I'm okay, Mikazuki. Atra says you've been pretty busy?" Kudelia asked. Mika glanced at Atra, who was trying to look away from him and Kudelia.

"Yeah... Barbatos needed fixing, and Akihiro needed a training partner in the simulators, so I've been busy," he admitted. Kudelia nodded. "Is something wrong?" Mika asked Atra.

"N-no! Nothing's wrong," Atra stammered out awkwardly. Mika looked confused, but shrugged and turned to walk away, but stopped as he remembered something.

"Oh yeah, Atra. Will you go on a date with me?"

Atra's head snapped around to look at him, shock written on her face. "What did you just say?" she asked, her voice wavering.

"Will you go on a date with me?" Mika asked, confusion written on his face. Atra turned from Mika to Kudelia, who was looking at them with her mouth hanging open. She was in just as much shock at this development as Atra was. Atra then turned back to Mika, who was looking even more confused now.

"...A date?" Atra asked as she looked back at Mika, who nodded. "...Y-yeah, sure. Where?"

Mika hadn't thought of that. "Uh..." He suddenly remembered there was a garden place in Seisei he had been meaning to visit when they were next there. "There's this place I've been meaning to visit, it's full of flowers and plants. There?" he asked.

"Okay... sure. About three in the afternoon?" Atra asked. Mika nodded, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Atra to turn back to the monitor, where Kudelia was now sat with her hands clasped over her mouth.

"Atra..." Kudelia whisperered. "Mikazuki just asked you out on a date."

Atra couldn't say anything. A buildup of pressure was happening in her chest, one she'd never felt before. She tried to surpress it, but it continued to grow and grow until she couldn't hold it in anymore, and she let out the loudest scream of joy Kudelia had ever heard.

"D-did that happen? I-I'm not dreaming, am I?" Atra quickly pinched herself to make sure, the resulting pain telling her she wasn't dreaming, and she let out another squeal of joy as she jumped up from her seat. "I need to find some nice clothes, and do my hair and make myself look good... I can't believe this is happening, Mikazuki asked me on a date, ahh!" she continued squealing as she ran around the room searching for bits and pieces to wear tomorrow, Kudelia watching on with a smile on her face.

 _Mika_ , she thought. _You've just made her the happiest person in the world._

...

What do you even do on a date?

Mika hadn't considered that. Lafter had suggested asking Atra on a date, but hadn't told him what you do on a date. Mika had no idea what you were supposed to do, and after checking the mess hall, he didn't know where Lafter was to ask her.

 _Orga would know,_ Mika thought. _Orga knows everything._ So Mika set off for the bridge, where he knew Orga would be. He preferred to lead from the front, so he would always be up there. Mika quickly found his way up there and opened the door to the bridge.

"...How were we supposed to know there was a Teiwaz spy on board? We weren't told anything!" Orga's gruff voice grumbled.

"You weren't, but standard procedure is to hail the enemy ship first **before** attacking it," Naze reminded him, earning a annoyed grunt from Orga.

"Hey, Orga," Mika said.

Orga let out a sigh, and turned to face Mikazuki. "Hey Mika. What you need?"

"What do you do on a date?" Mika asked innocently.

Orga and Naze shared a confused look, then looked back at Mika. "A date? Why?" Orga asked.

"I asked Atra on a date, but I don't know what you do on a date," Mika explained. Orga's eyebrows shot so high up Mika thought they were going to fly off his face, and Naze started chuckling. "What? I don't know what to do on a date," Mika said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Oh-ho-ho! So you're going on a date with Atra, Mikazuki?" Eugene asked as he strode over to where the trio were stood. "Well let me tell you, women love a strong man, and I'm sure Atra's no different-"

"Maybe you should let the one who's actually got experience with women explain," Naze told Eugene coolly, earning a dirty look from him. "I'm not laughing at you, Mika, it was just unexpected, that's all," he said.

"Yeah, just didn't expect that from you. Eugene, maybe..." Orga joked, his voice still a couple of octaves higher than normal.

"Hey!"

"But on a date, you'll need to treat her with respect and kindness. You'll also want to have a fun time, so take her to places you'll both enjoy. I remember Lafter and Eco mentioned that Atra wanted to learn more about fish while on Earth, so maybe take her to the aquarium on Seisei. You'll also want to wear some nice, matching clothes for the date, and make yourself look presentable as well," Naze explained.

"Yeah, and get her flowers and chocolate as well!" Eugene piped up.

Mika looked down at his dirt and oil encrusted fingers, and nodded. "We're going to that garden place first, but then I'll ask about going to the aquarium after that," he said.

"There's a food court near the aquarium as well. Get yourselves something to eat after you've been there, then come back to the ship," Orga told him, his voice now back at its normal level. Mika nodded and walked back out of the bridge.

"Don't forget to hold her hand when it gets busy out there!" Eugene shouted to Mika as he closed the door behind him.

Orga and Naze shared a glance. "Lafter," they both said.

"What about her?" Eugene asked.

Naze shook his head. "It doesn't matter, Eugene."

"This was the last thing I was expecting today," Orga muttered to himself as he rubbed the back of his head.

...

Two minutes to go. Atra looked around nervously, waiting for Mikazuki to show up.

At Kudelia's and Lafter's suggestions, she had grabbed her old outfit that she had worn in the Dort Colonies. She was surprised it still fit her, but truth be told, she hadn't really grown much since then.

"Atra." The girl turned to look at the source of the voice behind her, and was pleasantly surprised by what she saw.

Mikazuki, for once, wasn't clad in his usual tank top and cargo pants, but was wearing a smart looking blue jacket with a clean, short sleeved black top and smart blue pants. His arm was still in a sling, but for once he looked... handsome.

"Atra?" Mika asked, confusion etched on his face at her lack of response.

Atra shook her head and blinked. "Sorry, just uh... You look nice," she said, blushing slightly at the remark.

Mika nodded. "You look good," he told her, causing her to smile.

"Thank you."

He walked over to her and stood next to her, looking at the garden. "Shall we?" he asked. She nodded, and they walked into the garden.

"Welcome to the Seisei McMurdo Garden, named after the man who owns and pays for the maintenace of the garden!" The PA speakers played a message as they walked through the entrance. They both stopped, and looked around in awe.

There were so many different plants Mika had never seen before... There was a huge green one which reminded Mikazuki of the misshapen forks he had eaten food with back when Tekkadan was the CGS Third Group. Another was even taller than the green one, and had a brown centre with what appeared to be multiple yellow petals around it.

"Could we grow some of these on Mars?" Mika wondered out loud.

"Maybe. They look so nice," Atra said. The two of them walked further into the garden, looking around at some of the other plants and flowers that had been growing in the garden. A small red flower with a black centre, a flower half as tall as Atra with multiple pink flowers on it...

"We should ask if they have any seeds," Atra whispered.

"Yeah. We could grow them on Miss Sakura's farm." Mika agreed.

They reached the end of the garden, where there was a small stall selling flowers and seed packets, with booklets on different types of flowers. Mikazuki went to buy some seeds while Atra went to look at the flowers.

"That'll be 50 gjallars, please," the stall owner said. Mika pulled out the money to pay for it when he noticed Atra sniffing a particular set of red flowers.

 _Get her flowers and chocolate as well!"_ Eugene's words came back to Mika. Those flowers should be nice for her, right?

"What kind of flowers are those?" Mikazuki asked.

"Those? They are hibiscus flowers. That particular group came from a collection of seeds exported especially from a place on Earth called Hawaii," the stall owner explained.

"I want some of those too," Mika said. The stall owner nodded, and walked over to grab a few and wrap them in a bouquet for him.

"That'll be 80 gjallars altogether, thank you," the stall owner said. Mika put the seeds in another pocket and pulled out a few more gjallars to pay for everything. "Thank you for your visit to the Seisei Flower Stall!" the stall owner chirped. Mikazuki nodded and picked up the flowers before walking over to her and holding the bouquet out for her.

"For me?" Atra asked. Mika nodded, and Atra gently took the bouquet off of him and sniffed it.

"They're hibiscus flowers... I saw you sniffing them before," Mika explained.

"...T-thank you, Mikazuki!" Atra stammered out, blushing again as she hid behind the bouquet.

Mika nodded. "There's an aquarium nearby. We should go there next," he said simply.

"An aquarium?" Atra asked, peeking out from behind the bouquet. Mika nodded. "Okay, let's go then!" Atra started walking out of the garden with Mika close behind. Once they had exited the garden, Mika took the lead, taking the path Naze had told him to take to get there. After a few minutes of walking, they had arrived at the aquarium.

"Seisei Aquarium..." Atra read the sign on top of the building. "I wonder what fish they have here.

"Let's go then," Mika said. Atra nodded, and the two walked into the building.

It was very different from the garden. As opposed to being hot and humid, this place was just warm, with the whirring sounds being oddly comforting to the two of them, reminding Mika in particular of the noises Barbatos made when it was active. The darkened lighting of the building was in contrast to the blue lighting enaminating from the glass boxes next to them containing creatures Mika had never seen before, and Atra had only seen in books.

Atra called the ones she knew out, identifying them for Mikazuki. Octopus, blue angel fish, clownfish, trout, angler fish. Mika stared in wonder at the various creatures in the glass cases around him, all in different shapes and sizes and different colours.

They stepped into a tunnel, one with glass all around them, the blue light all around them. Atra let out a gasp of surprise as a large fish swam past the tunnel they were in, drawing a look of alarm from Mikazuki.

"That's a shark!" she called out, pointing at the creature which was swimming past the tunnel again.

"Oh," Mika said. Then a thought occurred to him. "Can you eat it?"

"I don't think you can," Atra admitted. Mika shrugged, and the two of them continued walking through the tunnel together.

Atra spotted more fish she recognised as they walked further through the aquarium. A starfish, a jellyfish, an archer fish and a discus fish. Mika looked on in fascination at the various creatures swimming around in the tanks. It was... strange. These creatures could swim in the ocean, but Atra mentioned that they could only live in the sea. They couldn't survive on land, so they wouldn't survive on Mars.

No good for the farm, then.

Atra and Mika walked out of the aquarium to see Seisei had gotten more busier than it was earlier. The streets were a lot more packed then when they set out earlier, and Mika and Atra found themselves getting jostled by people walking into the aquarium.

" _Don't forget to hold her hand when it gets busy out there!_ " Eugene's parting words came back to Mika, who grabbed Atra's hand and pulled them both out of the crowds into a less busy spot.

"I didn't think Seisei could get so busy..." Atra lamented. Mika looked around, trying to spot a way through the crowds to the food court.

There.

"There's a food court across the street. I'll have to hold your hand so we don't get seperated," Mika explained. Atra nodded, and Mika quickly started walking towards the food court, ducking through gaps in the crowds where he could, Atra walking as fast as she could to keep up with Mika and keeping her hold on his hand as tight as she could. After a few moments, they were through.

"This is a food court...?" Mika asked as he looked around the place. There was a variety of brightly coloured shops scattered around the place, with a variety of smells wafting in and around the building.

"There's so much food here..." Atra whispered. The two of them looked at each other, then around the building to figure out where to eat at. Atra pointed out a restaurant and the two of them walked over to queue up.

"Mikazuki... Thank you," Atra whispered.

"Huh?"

"Thank you for today. It's been really fun," she explained.

"Oh. Yeah. That's good," he said simply, allowing himself a small smile.

The two ordered their food, and took it over to a table to sit down and eat at. They had both ordered some fries, but when they had sat down to eat, Atra immediately pinched one of Mikazuki's fries.

"Huh?" he looked at her in confusion.

"Mine now." Atra stuck her tongue out at him before eating it. Mika just shrugged and started eating his fries. Atra smiled, before she started eating her own fries. The two quickly finished their food before clearing the rubbish away into a bin.

"It still looks pretty busy..." Atra noted.

Mika nodded. "Keep hold of my hand and stay close until we can get clear." Atra nodded, and quickly found his hand. Walking quickly, the two managed to get out of the food court and away from the crowds, and were slowly walking towards where the _Isaribi_ was moored.

"I'm glad we did this. This was fun," Atra said.

"Yeah," Mikazuki agreed. The two came to a stop outside of the ship's entryway, and Atra turned to face Mikazuki.

"Mikazuki... Thank you for today," she whispered, before she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

"Huh?" he grunted, but Atra gave no response. Just continued to hold him

" _These things take time, you should ask b-_ " Memories of the last time he had been in this position, with Kudelia, came back to him. _Should I ask Atra?_ he wondered. _Kudelia said to ask, so I should._

"Hey, Atra?" he asked. The girl in question let go and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry, just I don't know if we'll end up doing something like this again and I-"

"Can I kiss you?"

Atra looked at him blankly. "What?"

"Can I kiss you?" Mika repeated, confusion etched on his face.

Atra blinked, then her face went blushed scarlet red as she realised what he just asked. "Uh, I-I-I-I wou-uh... No! Yes! No! I mea-" Atra started babbling and stammering, trying to get her words out while Mikazuki looked at her, now even more confused at her behaviour.

After a few more moments of her babbling, Atra looked down at the ground and took a very deep breath, before looking back up at Mikazuki. "Y-y-y-yes, I w-would l-like that," she managed to stammer out.

Mika's confusion cleared up and a small smile formed on his face. "Okay."

And he leaned forward and kissed her.

Atra was shocked by his boldness. But after a few moments, the shock wore off and she kissed him back. Mika quickly pulled back in surprise and confusion, alarming Atra.

"Did I do something wrong?" Atra asked.

"...You did it back," Mika said, looking at her in confusion.

Atra wanted to laugh, but held it in because she didn't want to ruin the moment. "Yeah, people do it to you back. That's how kissing works," she explained.

"Oh." Mikazuki looked less confused now. Atra smiled, and leaned forward-

"Hey! Mika!" Shino's voice echoed behind Mikazuki. Atra froze. If one of the guys saw them like this, she'd never hear the end of it.

"Thank-" Atra's attempt at sneaking off was stopped by Mikazuki kissing her again. This time, it wasn't like the long one he gave her before, but rather a quick peck before he nodded and turned to walk towards Shino. Grateful for the distraction, she quickly ducked inside the ship.

"Mika, where've you been? No one's seen you since after training and all Orga has told us was that you were out on a mission!" Shino explained.

 _Why would Orga not tell them about what we doing?_ Mika wondered. "Yeah, he told me to help Atra with the food shopping for the _Isaribi_ ," Mika quickly said.

"'Food shopping'. Sure, Mika. Whatever you say, man!" Shino winked at Mikazuki.

Mika just switched to his normal poker face and walked ahead of Shino. "I'm going on patrol," he bluntly stated, leaving Shino behind.

In the bridge of the _Isaribi_ , a group had been observing Mika and Atra's behaviour near the entryway throught the ship's cameras.

"Hah! Told you he'd kiss her! Pay up, you two!" Lafter taunted Orga and Eugene, who sighed and gave her a 5 gjallar note each.

"Mika's never even shown the slightest interest in a girl before. We had better odds," Eugene grumbled.

"I'm proud of him for taking that step but damn, he had to do it when I was betting against him for once, didn't he?" Orga sighed.

"Sucks to be you, Orga. You should know better than to bet against him!" Lafter giggled as she skipped out of the door to the bridge.

...

 _Author's Note:_ _It was so tempting to have Mikazuki mention that he'd learned to ask before kissing from when he kissed Kudelia, but to be honest, this series needs fluff more than comedy/heartbreak, so there. And no, Lafter did not instigate this whole thing for the bet, the bet happened after Mika spoke to Orga, Naze and Eugene, I just couldn't think of a way to write it._

 _I hope you enjoyed this story. Be sure to check out my other stories!_


	2. Version 2, Written 27-10-19

_Author's Note: Alright, took me a year but finally got around to tweaking What's a Date!_

 _So to put it simply, the first chapter is the original version of What's a Date whereas this chapter is a rewritten version since I personally was not a fan of the quality of the original version. Not much has changed aside from the ending and including a bit hinting at Lafter's bet, but feel free to tell me which version your prefer!_

...

"Alright, that'll do it, Mika! Come on out!" Nadi called out as he turned off the diagnostic program of the Barbatos. The cockpit of the Gundam opened up as the pilot's seat brought Mikazuki Augus out of it as the boy put his arm back in a sling before disconnecting himself from the Alaya-Vijnana system, letting out a small grunt as the familar flow of information was cut off and the sight in his eye vanished.

"Is that everything, old man?" Mikazuki called back

"Yeah, that's all, Mika. Go get yourself some food!" Nadi told the boy. Mikazuki nodded, and launched himself off the Barbatos towards the elevated walkway.

"Hey Mika!" Azee called to the boy. "You, me, Akihiro and Lafter are doing training in the simulators at 1200 hours tomorrow!" she explained as he grabbed the railing in front of him and landed on his feet.

"Got it, Azee," Mikazuki said as he dusted himself off.

"Also, Lafter wanted to talk you about something. She's in the mess hall," she told him. Mikazuki nodded, and started walking through the corridors towards the mess hall.

It didn't take him long to find the mess hall. Walking through the doorway, he quickly spotted Lafter and walked over to sit with the honey blonde.

"Hey Mika, I got you some food. Did Azee tell you about the training tomorrow?" Lafter asked.

"Yeah. Tomorrow at 1200 hours. She also said you wanted to talk to me about something," he said, taking a bite out of some of the food on the plate. It tasted nice. _Then again, all of Atra's cooking tastes nice._ Mikazuki thought.

"Yeah, I did." Lafter stole a quick glance around the mess hall, before lowering her head and whispering to Mikazuki. "Have you talked to Atra lately?"

"Not really. I've been training a lot, so I haven't had chance to talk to her. Why?" he asked.

"I'm just wondering." A mischievous smile formed on Lafter's face. "Have you considered asking her on a date?"

Mikazuki looked at Lafter in confusion. "What's a date?" he asked. A sweat drop formed on Lafter's head and she quickly shushed him.

"Be quiet, do you want people to hear us?" she hissed at him, causing Mikazuki to look at her with even more confusion. "A date is where two people who like each other go out to eat food and to visit places together and spend time together," Lafter explained.

"Ohh." The confusion on Mikazuki's face cleared up slightly. "So, should I ask her now? What should I ask her?"

"Not now! You'll embarrass her in front of everyone!" she whispered to him. "Ask her if she wants to go on a date with you the next time you two get time alone. Make sure you say it like it's your idea," she told him. Mikazuki nodded, and went back to eating his food.

Lafter sighed. _Boys_ , she thought before winking at Azee, who ignored her and started to eat her food.

...

The monitor showed a calling icon, before the screen changed to show her familiar blonde haired, violet eyed friend.

"Hey Atra," Kudelia greeted the brunette. "Is something wrong?

"Oh, no, nothing's wrong... Just wanted to say hi and see how you were," Atra said, a small smile forming on her face.

"I'm doing alright. I got back from a meeting with some shareholders. They wanted to discuss how some of the students at the school are struggling with some of the subjects we'd been giving them, so we're looking at changing the curriculum to help them to improve in the areas they're struggling with, but other than that, it's been going well," Kudelia explained. "How are you?"

"I'm... okay. We're heading to Seisei for a while. Orga and Mr Naze were called back by Mr McMurdo for some reason, so we're going to be there for a while," Atra explained.

"Ah... What about Mikazuki?" Kudelia asked.

"He's okay," Atra answered a bit too quickly.

"Atra?"

The girl sighed. "I haven't really seen much of Mikazuki lately. He's either been working on Barbatos or training in the simulator."

The sound of a door sliding open drew their attention behind Atra. "Atra, we'll be arriving at Seisei soon," Mikazuki explained as he stood in the doorway.

"Hey Mikazuki," Kudelia greeted him.

"Kudelia." Mikazuki walked through the doorway to stand near Atra. "You okay?"

"I'm okay, Mikazuki. Atra says you've been pretty busy?" Kudelia asked. Mikazuki glanced at Atra, who was decidedly trying to look away from him and Kudelia. Odd.

"Yeah... Barbatos needed fixing, and Akihiro needed a training partner in the simulators, so I've been busy," he admitted. Kudelia nodded. Mikazuki looked between her and Atra, who was still looking away from him.

" _Ask her if she wants to go on a date with you the next time you two get time alone."_

Lafter's words echoed in his head. Now seemed like as good a time as any, they technically were alone after all.

"Oh yeah, Atra," he began, turning back around to face her. "Will you go on a date with me?"

Somewhere, a record scratched as Atra's head snapped around to look at him, her eyes the widest he'd ever seen them go. "What did you just say?" she asked, her voice wavering.

"Will you go on a date with me?" Mikazuki asked, looking very confused at her answer. Atra's head quickly swiveled from Mikazuki to Kudelia, who's jaw had dropped at the same time. Apparently, she just as surprised as Atra was right now. Atra then turned back to Mikazuki, who was looking even more confused now.

"...A date?" Atra asked as she looked back at Mikazuki, who nodded. "...Y-yeah, sure. Where?"

Mikazuki hadn't thought of that, confusion giving way to surprise instead. "Uh..." He suddenly remembered there was a garden place in Seisei he had been meaning to visit when they were next there. "There's this place I've been meaning to visit, it's full of flowers and plants. There?" he asked.

"Okay... sure. About three in the afternoon?" Atra asked. Mikazuki nodded, and walked out of the room, the door sliding shut after him, leaving Atra to turn back to the monitor, where Kudelia was now sat with her hands clasped over her mouth.

"Atra..." Kudelia whisperer. "Mikazuki just asked you out on a date."

Atra couldn't say anything. A buildup of pressure was happening in her chest, one she'd never felt before. The more she tried to suppress it, the more it continued to grow and grow until she couldn't hold it in anymore, and she let out the loudest scream of joy Kudelia had ever heard.

"D-did that happen? I-I'm not dreaming, am I?" Atra quickly pinched herself to make sure, the resulting pain telling her she wasn't dreaming, and she let out another squeal of joy as she jumped up from her seat. "I need to find some nice clothes, and do my hair and make myself look good... I can't believe this is happening, Mikazuki asked me on a date!" she squealed in ecstatic joy as she ran around the room searching for bits and pieces to wear for tomorrow, Kudelia watching on with a smile on her face.

 _Mikazuki,_ she thought _. You've just made her the happiest person in the world._

...

 _What do you even do on a date?_

Mikazuki hadn't considered that. Lafter had suggested asking Atra on a date but hadn't told him what it was you were supposed to do on a date. He had no idea what you were supposed to do, and after checking the mess hall, he didn't know where Lafter was to ask her.

 _Orga would know,_ Mikazuki thought. _Orga knows everything._ So Mikazuki set off for the bridge, where he knew Orga would be. He had always told him that if he wasn't in the mess hall, he would be at the bridge, leading from the front. So Mikazuki quickly found his way up there and opened the door to the bridge.

"...How were we supposed to know there was a Teiwaz spy on board? We weren't told anything!" Orga's gruff voice grumbled.

"You weren't, but standard procedure is to hail the enemy ship first **before** attacking it," Naze reminded him, earning an annoyed grunt from Orga.

"Orga," Mikazuki said as he walked in.

Orga let out a sigh and turned to face Mikazuki. "Hey Mika. What do you need?"

"What do you do on a date?" Mikazuki asked bluntly.

Orga and Naze shared a confused look, then looked back at Mikazuki. "A date? Why?" Orga asked.

"I asked Atra on a date, but I don't know what to do on a date," Mika explained. In response, Orga's eyebrows attempted to launch off of his face in surprise and Naze started chuckling to himself. "What? I don't know what to do on a date," Mikazuki said, a hint of defensive annoyance in his voice.

"Oh-ho-ho! So you're going on a date with Atra, Mikazuki?" Eugene asked as he strode over to where the trio were stood. "Well let me tell you, women love a strong man, and I'm sure Atra's no different-"

"Maybe you should let the one who's actually got experience with women explain," Naze told Eugene coolly, earning a dirty look from him. "I'm not laughing at you, Mikazuki, it was just unexpected, that's all," he said.

"Yeah, just didn't expect that from you. Eugene, maybe..." Orga joked, his voice still a couple of octaves higher than normal.

"Hey!"

"But on a date, you'll need to treat her with respect and kindness. You'll also want to have a fun time, so take her to places you'll both enjoy. I remember Lafter and Eco mentioned that Atra wanted to learn more about fish while on Earth, so maybe take her to the aquarium on Seisei. You'll also want to wear some nice, matching clothes for the date, and make yourself look presentable as well," Naze explained.

"And get her flowers and chocolate as well!" Eugene piped up.

Mikazuki looked down at his dirt and oil encrusted fingers and nodded. "We're going to that garden place first, but then I'll ask about going to the aquarium after that," he said.

"There's a food court near the aquarium as well. Get yourselves something to eat after you've been there, then come back to the ship," Orga told him, his voice now back at its normal level. Mikazuki nodded and walked back out of the bridge.

"Don't forget to hold her hand when it gets busy out there!" Eugene shouted to Mikazuki as the door closed behind him.

Orga and Naze shared a glance. "Lafter," they both said.

"What about her?" Eugene asked.

Right on cue, Lafter walked into the bridge to a trio of looks. "What?" she asked.

"You are a very sly girl, Lafter," Naze began.

"You were the one who put that idea into his head." Orga finished.

"Well, yeah. I thought it would be fun for them both! Besides, he spends too much time hooked up to that Gundam."

"I guess. This was the last thing I was expecting today," Orga muttered to himself as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Now…" Lafter smiled mischievously. "About that date they're going on…"

...

Two minutes to go. Atra looked around nervously, waiting for Mikazuki to show up.

At Kudelia's and Lafter's suggestions, she had grabbed her old outfit that she had worn in the Dort Colonies. She was surprised it still fit her, but truth be told, she hadn't really grown much since then.

"Atra." The girl turned to look at the source of the voice behind her and was pleasantly surprised by what she saw.

Mikazuki, for once, wasn't clad in his usual tank top and cargo pants, but was wearing a smart looking blue jacket with a clean, short sleeved black top and smart blue pants. His arm was still in a sling, but for once he looked... handsome.

"Atra?" Mikazuki asked, slight concern etched on his face at her lack of response.

Atra shook her head and blinked. "Sorry, just uh... You look nice," she said, blushing slightly at the remark.

Mikazuki nodded. "You look good too," he told her, causing her to smile.

"Thank you."

He walked over to her and stood next to her, looking at the garden. "Shall we?" he asked. She nodded, and together, they walked in.

"Welcome to the Seisei McMurdo Garden, named after the man who owns and pays for the maintenace of the garden!" The PA speakers played a message as they walked through the entrance. They both stopped, and looked around in awe.

There were so many different plants Mika had never seen before... There was a huge green one which reminded Mikazuki of the misshapen forks he and the others had eaten food with back when Tekkadan was the CGS Third Group. Another was even taller than the green one, and had a brown center with what appeared to be multiple yellow petals around it.

"Could we grow some of these on Mars?" Mikazuki wondered out loud.

"Maybe. They look so nice," Atra said. The two of them walked further into the garden, looking around at some of the other plants and flowers that had been growing in the garden. A small red flower with a black centre, a flower half as tall as Atra with multiple pink flowers on it...

"We should ask if they have any seeds," Atra whispered.

"Yeah. We could grow them on Miss Sakura's farm." Mikazui agreed.

They reached the end of the garden, where there was a small stall selling flowers and seed packets, with booklets on different types of flowers. Mikazuki went to buy some seeds while Atra went to look at the flowers.

"That'll be 50 gjallars, please," the stall owner said. Mikazuki pulled out the money to pay for it when he noticed Atra sniffing a particular set of red flowers.

" _Get her flowers and chocolate as well!"_ Eugene's words came back to Mikazuki. Those flowers should be nice for her, right?

"What kind of flowers are those?" Mikazuki asked.

"Those? They are hibiscus flowers. That particular group came from a collection of seeds exported especially from a place on Earth called Hawaii," the stall owner explained.

"I want some of those too," Mika said. The stall owner nodded, and walked over to grab a few and wrap them in a bouquet for him.

"That'll be 80 gjallars altogether, thank you," the stall owner said. Mika put the seeds in another pocket and pulled out a few more gjallars to pay for everything. "Thank you for your visit to the Seisei Flower Stall!" the stall owner chirped. Mikazuki nodded and picked up the flowers before walking over to her and holding the bouquet out for her.

"For me?" Atra asked. Mika nodded, and Atra gently took the bouquet off of him and sniffed it.

"They're hibiscus flowers. I saw you sniffing them before," Mikazuki explained.

Atra looked down at the bouquet. Then up at Mikazuki. Back down at the flowers. Up at Mikazuki. Then her brain caught up with her and her face blushed a deep crimson as she hid behind the bouquet. "...T-thank you, Mikazuki!" Atra stammered out.

The boy nodded. "There's an aquarium nearby. We should go there next," he said simply.

"An aquarium?" Atra asked, peeking out from behind the bouquet. Mikazuki nodded. "Let's go then!" Atra started walking out of the garden with Mikazuki close behind. Once they had exited the garden, Mikazuki took the lead, taking the path Naze had told him to take to get there. After a few minutes of walking, they had arrived at the aquarium.

"Seisei Aquarium..." Atra read the sign on top of the building. "I wonder what fish they have here.

"Maybe some big ones," Mikazuki offered. Atra nodded, and the two walked into the building.

It was very different from the garden. As opposed to being hot and humid, this place was just warm, with the whirring sounds being oddly comforting to the two of them, reminding Mikazuki in particular of the noises Barbatos made when it was active. The darkened lighting of the building was in contrast to the blue lighting emanating from the glass boxes next to them containing creatures Mikazuki had never seen before, and Atra had only seen in books.

Atra called the ones she knew out, identifying them for Mikazuki. Octopus, blue angel fish, clownfish, trout, angler fish. He stared in wonder at the various creatures in the glass cases around him, all in different shapes and sizes and different colours.

They stepped into a tunnel, one with glass all around them, the blue light all around them. Atra let out a gasp of surprise as a large fish swam past the tunnel they were in, drawing a look of alarm from Mikazuki.

"That's a shark!" she called out, pointing at the creature which was swimming past the tunnel again.

"Oh," Then a thought occurred to him. "Can you eat it?"

"I don't think you can," Atra admitted. Mikazuki shrugged, and the two of them continued walking through the tunnel together.

Atra spotted more fish she recognized as they walked further through the aquarium. A starfish, a jellyfish, an archer fish and a discus fish. Mika looked on in fascination at the various creatures swimming around in the tanks. It was... strange. These creatures could swim in the ocean, but Atra mentioned that they could only live in the sea. They couldn't survive on land, so they wouldn't survive on Mars.

No good for the farm, then.

The two of them walked out of the aquarium to see Seisei had gotten more busier than it was earlier. The streets were a lot more packed then when they set out earlier, and they found themselves getting jostled by people walking into the aquarium.

" _Don't forget to hold her hand when it gets busy out there!"_ Eugene's parting words came back to Mikazuki, who grabbed Atra's hand and pulled them both out of the crowds into a less busy spot.

"I didn't think Seisei could get so busy..." Atra lamented. Mikazuki didn't answer, instead looking around to try spot a way through the crowds to the food court.

There.

"There's a food court across the street. I'll have to hold your hand so we don't get separated," Mikazuki explained. Atra looked down at their entwined hands, gulped and nodded, and Mikazuki quickly started walking towards the food court, ducking through gaps in the crowds where he could, Atra walking as fast as she could to keep up with Mikazuki and keeping her hold on his hand as tight as she could. After a few moments, they were through.

"This is a food court...?" Mika asked as he looked around the place. There was a variety of brightly coloured shops scattered around the place, with a variety of smells wafting in and around the building.

"There's so much food here..." Atra whispered. The two of them looked at each other, then around the building to figure out where to eat at. Atra pointed out a restaurant with a sign that read "McDaniels" and the two of them walked over to queue up.

"Mikazuki... Thank you," Atra whispered as they waited for the queue to move along.

"Huh?"

"Thank you for today. It's been fun," she explained.

"Oh. Yeah. That's good," he said simply, allowing himself a small smile.

The two ordered their food and took it over to a table to sit down and eat at. They had both ordered some fries, but when they had sat down to eat, Atra immediately pinched one of Mikazuki's fries.

"Huh?" he looked at her in confusion.

"Mine now." Atra stuck her tongue out at him before eating it. Mika just shrugged and started eating his fries, missing the happy smile she gave him before she started eating her own fries. The two quickly finished their food before clearing the rubbish away into a bin.

"It still looks pretty busy..." Atra said.

Mikazuki nodded. "Keep hold of my hand and stay close until we can get through." Atra nodded, and quickly found his hand. Walking quickly, the two managed to get out of the food court and away from the crowds and were slowly walking towards where the _Isaribi_ was moored.

"Thank you for this, Mikazuki," Atra repeated as they walked.

"What for?"

"This. All of this. When you asked me, I thought I was dreaming. But even if this is a dream, I'm glad to have had it," she whispered, before she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

"Why would it be a dream?" he asked, but Atra gave no response. Just continued to hold him close.

" _These things take time, you should ask b-"_ Memories of the similar time he had been in this position, with Kudelia, came back to him. _Should I ask Atra?_ he wondered. _Kudelia said to ask, so I should._

"Hey, Atra?" he asked. The girl in question let go and looked away at him bashfully.

"I'm sorry, just I don't know if we'll end up doing something like this again and I-"

"Can I kiss you?"

Atra looked at him blankly. "What?"

"Can I kiss you?" He repeated, confusion etched on his face.

Atra blinked, then her face went blushed scarlet red as she realized what he just asked. "Uh, I-I-I-I wou-uh... No! Yes! No! I mea-" Atra started babbling and stammering, trying to get her words out while Mikazuki looked at her, baffled by how quickly she went from being calm to panicking.

After a few more moments of her babbling, Atra looked down at the ground and took a very deep breath, before looking back up at Mikazuki. "Y-y-y-yes, I w-would l-like that," she managed to stammer out.

Mikazuki's confusion cleared up and a small smile formed on his face. "Okay."

And he leaned forward and kissed her.

The boldness of the move surprised her. But after a few moments, the shock wore off and she kissed him back. Mikazuki quickly pulled back in surprise and confusion, alarming Atra.

"Did I do something wrong?" Atra asked.

"...You did it back," he said, looking at her in confusion.

Atra wanted to laugh, but held it in because she didn't want to ruin the moment. "Yeah, people do it to you back. That's how kissing works," she explained.

"Oh." Mikazuki looked less confused now. Atra smiled, and leaned forward-

"Hey! Mika!" Shino's voice echoed behind Mikazuki. Atra froze. If one of the guys saw them like this, she'd never hear the end of it.

"Thank-" Atra's attempt at sneaking off was stopped by Mikazuki kissing her again. This time, it wasn't like the long one he gave her before, but rather a quick peck before he nodded and turned to walk towards Shino. Grateful for the distraction, she quickly ducked inside the ship.

"Mikazuki, where've you been? No one's seen you since after training and all Orga has told us was that you were out on a mission!" Shino explained.

 _Why would Orga not tell them about what we doing?_ Mika wondered. "Yeah, he told me to help Atra with the food shopping for the _Isaribi_ ," Mika quickly said.

"'Food shopping'." Shino looked at the suit Mikazuki was dressed in and winked at him. "Sure, Mikazuki. Whatever you say, man!"

Mika just switched to his normal poker face and walked ahead of Shino. "I'm going on patrol," he bluntly stated, leaving Shino behind.

"Dressed like that? Mika, wait up! Akihiro's on patrol now, you're not needed until the morning!"

In the bridge of the _Isaribi,_ a group had been observing Mika and Atra's behaviour near the entryway through the ship's cameras.

"Hah! Told you he'd kiss her! Pay up, you two!" Lafter taunted Orga and Eugene, who sighed and gave her a 5 gjallar note each.

"He's never even shown the slightest interest in a girl before. We had better odds," Eugene grumbled.

"He had to take that step when I was betting against him, didn't he?" Orga sighed.

"Sucks to be you, Orga. You should know better than to bet against him!" Lafter giggled as she skipped out of the door to the bridge.

…

When Atra awoke the next morning, she had initially dismissed the previous night's events as a dream she had had. At least until she saw the red hibiscus flowers in the vase.

"That actually happened…" she whispered, running a finger along her lips as she remembered what had happened towards the end. No doubt Shino was probably going to want to know what was going on, but that was an issue for later. For now…

Atra quickly climbed out of bed and ran over to the monitor, and set the machine to call Kudelia. The call connected after a couple of rings.

"Hello, Atra," she greeted her. "How was the date?"

Atra let out a little squeak and shook her hands in glee as she began to speak. "It was so good! We started by going to that garden Mikazuki mentioned and he bought me a bouquet of flowers…"


End file.
